large power plants, and as it is consumed in the home for lighting and
cooking it passes through a meter, which indicates the quantity used in
much the same manner as a gas meter. It will be well, therefore, to
understand the way in which an electric meter is read, so that the bills
for electricity can be checked.

61. READING AN ELECTRIC METER.--An electric meter, which is similar in
appearance to a gas meter, consists of three or four dials, which are
placed side by side or in the shape of an arc. In the usual type, which
is shown in Fig. 2 and which consists of four dials placed side by side,
each one of the dials contains ten spaces and a hand, or indicator, that
passes over numbers ranging from to 9 to show the amount of
electricity used.

[Illustration: Fig 2.]

The numbers on the dials represent _kilowatt-hours_, a term meaning the
energy resulting from the activity of 1 kilowatt for 1 hour, or 1 watt,
which is the practical unit of electrical power, for 1,000 hours. Since
1,000 hours equal 1 kilowatt, 1,000 watt-hours equal 1 kilowatt-hour. It
will be observed from the accompanying illustration that the dial on the
extreme right has the figures reading in a clockwise direction, that is,
from right to left, the second one in a counter-clockwise direction, or
from left to right, the third one in a clockwise direction, and the
fourth one in a counter-clockwise direction; also that above each dial
is indicated in figures the number of kilowatt-hours that one complete
revolution of the hand of that dial registers.

To read the meter, begin at the right-hand dial and continue to the left
until all the dials are read and set the numbers down just as they are